How To Know When The Rent ISN’T Too Darn High

The challenge facing the owners of rental properties was underscored by a man named Jimmy McMillan, who once ran for governor of New York on the-rent-is-too-(darn)-high platform. In fact, that was what he dubbed his party: The Rent Is Too (Darn) High. (Footnote: He was later evicted from his rent-controlled apartment in New York City [...]

What to do When Your Multifamily Property Turns Out To Be Historic

The phrase “George Washington slept here,” a reference to a long-ago play and motion picture, has also been used, tongue-in-cheek style, in connection with any property that might have historical significance. But what if that is really the case? What if George Washington (or, for that matter, Gen. George Patton, or George Santayana) really did [...]

The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of Midwestern Towns

  The images of Rust Belt cities haunt and amaze: frame after frame of homes and businesses and factories, hollowed out and abandoned -- some looking as if the occupants just stepped out for a minute. They leave one thinking of a bygone era, when business boomed and these places thrived. They backslid because of [...]

By |2020-05-11T19:33:55+00:00March 23rd, 2018|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , , , |

Preserving the Past, while Facing the Future

The Wrigley Building, one of Chicago’s iconic structures, dates back to the early 1920s, when William Wrigley Jr. settled on a site along Michigan Avenue, hard by the Chicago River, for the headquarters of his chewing-gum empire. It has loomed over the city’s skyline ever since, though it underwent a makeover after being purchased in [...]

The Local Watering Hole: Neighborhood Anchor or Lodestone?

At their best, neighborhood bars serve as the social hubs of their neighborhoods -- vibrant places that draw people in and draw them together. At their worst, they are nuisances, producing excessive noise, littering, vandalism, etc. The question, then, is this: What are the pros and cons of investing in real estate near such places? [...]

Multiple Ways to Add Value to a Multi-Family Building

  As I wrote in my 2007 book Purchase, Rehab and Reposition Commercial Investment Property, repositioning multifamily apartment buildings has long been my passion, and has proven to be a pathway to profitability. It’s hard work, as investments go, but it has always been worthwhile. Most of the success our company has seen comes from [...]

How to Avoid Getting Lost on the Paper Trail

As with home-buying, the closing of any commercial real estate transaction brings with it an inch-thick pile of paper, even in this digital age. Pen in hand, we all must wade in and find our way out the other side. I’m here to tell you that it can be done, that you can keep your [...]

By |2020-11-16T20:20:17+00:00December 5th, 2017|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , , , |

A Guide to Buying Foreclosures

Properties in foreclosure are often an excellent source for single-family home rehab and repositioning. Coming from a family that actively owns and operates real estate investments (I’m the third generation to be in the biz) I’ve seen my fair share of houses, blocks and neighborhoods fall into disrepair, then, after the foreclosures are handled, [...]

By |2020-10-13T18:26:14+00:00October 24th, 2017|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , , , , |

Due Diligence in Real Estate, Part 1

In real estate, as in many other areas of business, one simply can’t jump in without doing the legwork and research. Because there’s so much money at stake, it’s crucial for real estate investors (especially first-time ones) to go through the right procedures--rather than leaping without looking. With that in mind, understand that this guide [...]

By |2020-06-15T18:12:00+00:00October 10th, 2017|Categories: Blog|Tags: , , |